This invention relates generally to a transportation system, and more particularly to such a system wherein a sensor assembly is mountable on a rail vehicle for detecting a rail obstruction which would inhibit continued and uninterrupted travel of the vehicle.
In rail transportation systems of the standard variety as well as of the monorail types designed for urban rapid rail travel, it is desirable for the systems to be designed as automatically operable as possible. Hence, a system controlled without the need of an operator on board the rail vehicle would be the ultimate in cost and labor savings except that fully automatic systems to date have not proven feasible and economical because of their complex designs. Control of the vehicle speed should be based on existing rail car traffic so that cars on the same track can be detected automatically and the speed of any particular car automatically regulated. Also, any rail obstructions such as damaged rails or station stop signals must be detected safely in advance so that the car speed can be regulated in time to avoid a perilous condition.